It was lovely to see Jean again and find out all about her safari, and also to see the children and Anna, Filo, Lawrence, Emma and Marium and our askari and of course Nina (the dog) back in Arusha. But I was aff again almost as soon as I arrived.
I caught a bus to Moshi, and was taken to my accommodation and given appropriate clothes for the climb (about which I had made my mind and booked just before heading off with Chris).
I was picked up early the next morning, met my guide and porters, and Anthony the other climber (a Canadian), who had planned to climb one of the higher peaks on each continent and had already been to Nepal. I felt in the presence of an experienced climber given the highest peak I had climbed was Mount Snowdon in Wales. But Kili was yet to change his ambition and was tougher than both of us had anticipated.
We walked up via the Machame route which is on the western side. Our first day took us from 1500m through rainforest for most of the climb up into moorland and we reached Machame camp at 3000m. It had rained for most of the day and we were sopping by the time we arrived. As we sat in Machame hut waiting for the ranger, I looked over to Anthony who had the light coming through the window behing him. The heat of his body was causing his wet clothes to steam so much he looked like he was going to spontaneously combust. I was apparently doing it too. It was quite freaky. It was cold at night on the hill and I even took to drinking tea at tea break for the warmth and water I needed.
In the morning, the sky was clear and we could see Kibo peak, our goal. We started climbing up a steep incline up steps. Eventually at about 3400m the steps stopped and so did the moorland and we were on rocky terrain. Some level walking, some uphill walking and some clambering over rocks. We set a pretty fast pace and at about 3500m, I started to feel the altitude for the first time. I just felt out of breath so easily and palpitations when I went beyond a comfortable pace. We slowed up a bit. By this time we were above cloud and we knew we would not have to worry about rain. We got to our highest point of 3800m then continued town to Shira camp near the Shira crater. We camped at 3700m.
That night I woke up late when nature called and got out of my tent to be dazzled by the starry night sky. There was virtually no moon and we were above the clouds and there was no light in the camp to detract from it. Possibly the best view of the night sky I have ever seen.
The following morning, we arose and started our climb again. This was a nice gentle slope with boulders on each side. Again, the morning was clear and we had good views of the peak. It was only a couple of hours into our climb that the mist came in and we were walking through eerie cloud with the big dark shadows of boulders around us. We came through the cloud and saw that the peak was not visible as it was still shrouded with cloud. We were making good time so our guide decided to take us up to 4600m instead of 4200m so that we would get better acclimatisation to the altitude. I didn't feel the lack of oxygen at all that day, possibly due to the gentle slope. The difficult bit was coming down again to 3900m where we camped. My leg hurt so much to bend and it was difficult coming down the dried riverbed. I don't like walking downhill much anyway, but with a leg that was becoming more painful to flex with each passing step and the knowledge that I was on the third day and only had 1.5 days before I could be at the peak but may not make it, I just wanted to sit down and have a tanty and cry. But I got to camp eventually and discovered a huge knot in the muscle in my lower leg. I massaged it and got voltaren gel to put on it during the night and in the morning. The next day it was fine. I didn't realise it had been bothering me so much on both day 1 and 2 and I felt like a new woman having two working legs.
So day 4 involved leaving Barranco camp early and again having a great view of Kibo peak. We also were well above the cloud and I could see Mount Meru (that sits beside Arusha and is the 5th highest mountain in Africa) in the distance. The cloud formed a carpet all the way to Mount Meru and I felt like Jack and didn't realise what a hard time it would have been for him going straight up that beanstalk. Still shouldn't have thieved though. I tell you that was one big beanstalk - he shouldn've havested and sold the beans. And as for the faraway tree! Well, Moonface and Silky and Mr Whatsizname must have had high ceilinged rooms and I really would love Moonface's slide!
Anyway, off the topic... I think it was the altitude got me thinking that way. So that morning our climb started with a REAL climb. We clambered up about 300m up a sheer cliff face called Barranco Wall. Then we continued on and descended a lot again. Seemed a waste going down again but it is good for acclimatisation. It was about a 6 hour walk to Barafu Camp and we were knackered as we went up the steep last section of it. It was all rocky terrain and some scree and shaly type areas. It was more clear that it was a volcano we were climbing as we got further up. Barafu camp is at 4600m. There are birds up there I'd never seen before and little mice with stripes on their backs that are perpetually hiding under the rocks from those birds of prey. There were more ravens which had been with us since the second camp and would come at us for food.
After lunch, we had an afternoon nap before dinner bcause we knew we would be up at 11:30pm to have food before starting our final ascent to the summit.
So we set off to the summit at midnight with our guide warning us that we should go slowly and aim to not have to stop for long at any time because it was too cold so we needed to keep moving, albeit slowly so we didn't get exhausted.
There were a few factors that enabled me to complete the climb: 1) I am stubborn and had paid a fortune to do it and wanted to make it, 2) it was dark and I could not see how crazily steep the slopy was in front of me and that it seemed to go on forever (on coming back down in the daylight I honestly don't know how we made it), and 3) Anthony suffered from altitude sickness quite severely after we passed 5000m and nearly couldn't walk and kept collapsing in the snow so I knew that, as exhausted as I was, I wasn't yet that bad and so should be able to push myself further. Very generous of Anthony to give me that confidence boost and not let my resolve crack, although I don't think that was his plan.
Also the view of the stars and the crescent of the new moon were something to behold.
Despite chemical hand warmers and foot warmers in my gloves and boots, my fingers and toes went numb and I'd get my fingers out and suck on them whenever we had to wait for Anthony to stumble upright again. I had a crazy paranoia that I'd lose my fingers and not be able to do surgery again which I think was my way of trying to find a valid excuse to give up and go back down. I was worried for Anthony and suggested he go back down, but he had a stubborn streak not many have and would not give up. He later said to me that he felt the top was closer and therefore, in his altitude befuddled mind, felt it must be easier. I also have to admit, that while I was worried for Anthony, I'd find myself involuntarily laughing at his state in that he was walking like he was absolutely wasted drunk. Given that I was considerably worried about him and I was astonished at myself for even finding the humorous side, I think it may have also had something to do with the altitude. I hope so anyway. I'd hate to think I was that callous. But then maybe I am! Up up and up we went. Occasionally I would see the group far above me and feel disheartened that they hadn't yet reached the ridge at Stella Point. I started reciting things to myself to keep me going. Started with the cranial nerves which took up 500m of the climb since I got stuck on abducens (but who doesn't, what a pathetic nerve anyway, but then I don't really want to be cross-eyed so I suppose it's not so bad). After that I was stuck trying to think of something else to recite. Then we were close enough to see the ridge of Stella Point about 20-30m away and Anthony had collapsed again and seriously couldn't go further. Our guide Daniel pulled him to his feet and pulled him to Stella Point. I scurried up there so fast (or I thought it was at the time but it was probably slower than my dog paddle attempt at Mortlake Encouragement Swim when I was 7) because I had a burst of energy at seeing the (sort of) finish line.
Stella Point is at about 5600m and the rest of the climb is a gentle slope around the rim of the crater. Considering what we had just achieved, you would think that easy. But it's not. There is little oxygen up there and any minor incline feels steep and knocks the stuffing out of you. It still seemed like forever before we were at Uhuru Peak. It helped meeting the other two groups as they made their ways down because we knew it wasn't far. And it was nice to be the last ones there. Only Anthony, Daniel, Jeremy (one of the porters who was acting as backup guide and who went up without a torch which impressed me) and me sitting up there, totally knackered (well Anthony and I were, Daniel and Jeremy looked like they'd just been for a stroll to the park). I cracked open my last galaxy chocolate bar which I had saved for the occasion and shared it with Daniel and Jeremy. Anthony didn't want any due to the nausea of altitude sickness. He also admitted later that he thought a few things happened up there that didn't and realised later that they were hallucinations.
It was dawn as we descended to Stella Point. We watched the sunrise from Stella Point. Quite an amazing spectacle seeing the sun's rays shining over a rocky peak like in a kid's drawing. And we could see the crater and the glaciers up there. It was beautiful and well worth the climb. It was a wonderful sense of achievement and I am glad I did it. A real experience. In saying that, Anthony and I both agreed when we reached Mweka camp that afternoon that we wouldn't do it again no matter what anyone offered to pay us!! But I still do recommend it if anyone hasn't been up there.
So we headed down from Stella point and skated down the Scree at a rapid rate which almost felt like skiing. When I got onto solid ground, I kept running almost all the way to Barafu and was the first person down out of all three groups that went up. I just had so much energy! Got to Barafu and we napped for an hour then headed down to Mweka camp. Got there in the early afternoon and collapsed for another nap. It had been hard going downhill in riverbeds and steep descents in some places. My thighs were trembling with the effort of going downhill.
Our final day was only 1.5 hours of walking on a path down through the rainforest. We saw some Colobus monkeys on the way down. A lot fluffier than the ones I'd seen in Kenya. We arrived at Mweka gate and were transferred back to our hotels in Moshi where we looked forward to nice hot showers (which is a bit of a luxury because many places don't have hot showers) and toilets that didn't require a good aim.
